The Best Cheese for Salad

Some people think salad is bad. I think those people are categorically incorrect. It is my firm belief that if people don’t like salads, they are simply eating the wrong salads. Yeah, plain lettuce sucks. But top it with some pan-seared marinated chicken, a significant amount of crumbled goat cheese, a few dried cranberries, some fresh pear, candied walnuts, and a tangy balsamic dressing and BANG! You will suddenly like salad and your life. Now, goat cheese is great, but there are many more cheeses out there that are perfectly suited to adding salt, umami, protein, and, most importantly, pizzaz to your salad. So without further ado, we are about to lay out the best cheese for salad so you cheddar get ready to brie rid of all your preconceived notions about what a salad could be, and walk with us into the world of beautiful and interesting salads.

Mt Vikos Traditional Feta

I know, feta on a salad is not groundbreaking. That may be true, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is delicious. Who doesn’t love a funky, crumbly, briny pop of cheesy goodness to break up the monotony of a dish that is roughly 70% roughage? Heck, if I could flip the script and have a salad that was 70% feta, I would. And this particular feta would not disappoint. Editor-in-chief Justine Sterling called this feta “absolutely the best feta for a salad” due to it being creamy, not dry (even without a brine), and full of actual cheesy flavor. This is potentially the best cheese for a salad, I say give it a go.

Vermont Creamery Goat Cheese

I know, goat cheese on a salad isn’t anything new either, but trust me when I tell you that this goat cheese is truly the GOAT goat cheese. If you like goat cheese, you may just need to give this bad boy a try because it is, according to our team, “an absolute stunner of a goat cheese.” It is “classically tangy, quite grassy, but still creamy,” and its crumbly texture is absolutely perfect for salads. TLDR: this cheese is a banger and belongs on the best cheese for salad playlist.

Laura Chenel Four Peppercorn

WHAT?! More GOATed goat cheese? In the same listicle!? In 2023?!?! You bet your goaty butt it is. But don’t worry your pretty little goat-loving head, this goat cheese brings something different to the table from the one directly above it, namely, the four peppercorns involved. If you want to give your salad some floral, zesty, peppery spice in addition to salty creaminess, then this goat cheese right here is your new best friend. Our tasting team called it “deliciously tangy and wonderfully peppery.” So don’t let sad, vegetable-only salads get your goat—go get your own goat (cheese) at the grocery store (heck, get this one) and change up your salad game.

Boursin Black Truffle & Sea Salt

People don’t talk about Boursin cheese enough. If you have never had the pleasure of ingesting Boursin, essentially it is a thick hockey puck-shaped cake of lightly crumbly, whipped cream cheese-esque cheese, and it comes in multiple different flavors, all of which are absolutely divine. This truffle flavor would be absolutely excellent on everything from a Cobb to a wedge to a bougie spinach-and-pear situation. And no worries if you can’t find this truffle-flavored variety; the original garlic and herbs-flavored one is absolutely to die for and could fit in any of those situations equally as well.

Blue Cheese

This is the classic crumbly cheese for salads and for good reason. Blue cheese has a huge flavor-to-volume ratio, making it one of the best salad cheeses out there. It is tangy, salty, funky, and cheesy, and a little goes a long way. If you are a fan of blue cheese (I know it is not for everyone) but haven’t tried it on a salad yet, you have to give this guy a go.

Related: What Is Blue Cheese?

Tillamook Farmstyle Thick Cut Mozzarella Cheese

Lastly, we had to put a nice shredded cheese on the list, and this has to be just about the best shredded cheese for salad. Why? Because in our humble, Sporky opinion, this is among the best shredded cheese in general. It comes in “thick, coarsely cut mozzarella ribbons,” not the thin little cheese shreds you are used to, plus it is “deliciously rich and cheesy.” I could (and have) eaten these straight out of the bag (they are so thick they are great snackin’ size), but sprinkled on a salad these would add a whole other layer of delicious, chewy, cheesy complexity. Definitely the best shredded cheese for salad.